Prerequisites
Before installing NetBox Enterprise with the nbe-operator Helm chart, verify your environment meets these requirements.
Kubernetes Version
The nbe-operator chart requires Kubernetes 1.26 or later.
kubectl version --short
Required Tools
| Tool | Minimum Version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | 3.x | Chart installation and management |
| kubectl | Matching cluster version | Cluster interaction and debugging |
Resource Requirements
Cluster Sizing
| Environment | vCPU | Memory (RAM) | Disk Space |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production (recommended) | 8 vCPU | 24 GB | 100 GB SSD |
| Non-production (minimum) | 4 vCPU | 16 GB | 50 GB SSD |
These recommendations account for the full stack: operator, NetBox application, workers, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Diode components. SSD or NVMe storage is recommended for database performance.
Per-Component Defaults
The chart ships with the following resource defaults. These are starting points — production deployments should allocate resources based on the cluster sizing above.
| Component | CPU Request | Memory Request | CPU Limit | Memory Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | 100m | 128Mi | 500m | 512Mi |
| NetBox app (per replica) | 200m | 750Mi | 1000m | 1500Mi |
| NetBox worker (per replica) | 100m | 128Mi | 1000m | 1500Mi |
| PostgreSQL (PGO-managed) | — | — | — | — |
| Redis | 250m | 256Mi | — | — |
For Diode components (if enabled):
| Component | CPU Request | Memory Request | CPU Limit | Memory Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reconciler | 100m | 256Mi | 500m | 512Mi |
| Ingester | 100m | 256Mi | 500m | 512Mi |
| Auth | 50m | 128Mi | 200m | 256Mi |
| Hydra | 100m | 256Mi | 500m | 512Mi |
The per-component defaults are conservative requests to allow scheduling. For production workloads, ensure your nodes have sufficient headroom above these minimums — the cluster sizing recommendations above should be used as the target.
Registry Access
The nbe-operator images are hosted on the Replicated proxy registry at proxy.enterprise.netboxlabs.com. You need valid license credentials to authenticate with the Helm registry before installing.
Registry credentials are automatically injected when installing the chart through the Replicated registry — no manual image pull secret configuration is needed.
Chart Dependencies
The nbe-operator chart automatically installs these dependencies (can be disabled individually):
| Dependency | Version | Purpose | Toggle |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGO (Crunchy Postgres Operator) | 6.0.0 | Manages internal PostgreSQL | pgo.enabled |
| Redis Operator | 0.22.2 | Manages internal Redis | redis-operator.enabled |
| Replicated SDK | 1.11.2 | License management | replicated.enabled |
| ingress-nginx | 4.14.1 | Ingress controller (embedded cluster only) | ingress.enabled |
When using an external PostgreSQL database, you can disable PGO with pgo.enabled: false. Similarly, set redis-operator.enabled: false when using external Redis. See the Configuration section for details.
RBAC Requirements
The operator requires cluster-level or namespace-level RBAC permissions depending on the rbac.scope setting:
cluster(default): CreatesClusterRoleandClusterRoleBinding. The operator watches forNetBoxEnterpriseresources across all namespaces.namespace: CreatesRoleandRoleBindingin the release namespace only. The operator watches only the namespace where it is installed.
The operator's service account needs permissions to manage Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, PVCs, Jobs, CronJobs, Ingresses, and the CRDs for PostgreSQL and Redis operators.
Persistent Storage
The cluster must have a default StorageClass or you must specify one explicitly. Storage is used for:
- PostgreSQL data (default: 4Gi)
- NetBox media files (default: 10Gi)
- NetBox scripts (default: 1Gi)
- Redis persistence (if enabled)
Next Steps
- Quickstart — Get running in 5 minutes with minimal configuration
- Standard Installation — Full installation with custom values